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Jeff, Sent you an e-mail with my new contact info. Things have been busy lately with the new house and the new baby on the way. Tomorrow we get to find out the sex of the baby! hopefully it is a boy, but as long as we have a healthy baby I really don't care.

lou, You make a good point, but if you chose the wrong format you will still have a player that plays all the movies you own on that format and the dvd player itself will still be a great upconverting dvd player. Neither of these two formats is going anywhere for the forseable future. Also the cost of the media is mute if you enjoy the picture and sound you can buy a new release dvd for about $17 or spend an extra 3-10 dollars and enjoy it in high definition. Nothing lasts forever as is the case with any type of electronic device. The choice is whether to enjoy what is here now or wait who knows how long until there is a winner. I don't know why anyone would spend over 300 on an upconverting player when for less than 250 you have a great upconverting player that also gives you the option to enjoy high definition.

I currently own the emotiva mps1 7 channel amp and the sound quality and power is great for the money. The folks at emotiva are also excellent to work with. I had it mated with my rf7's when I had them and it made for a great combination. The construction of the amps is also unheard of at there price points top quality components throughout. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

As an owner of both formats I thought I would chime in. First and foremost I love movies. I could care less who wins the format war. I just purchased a new toshiba hd a35 and it is by far the best dvd player I have ever owned. I also own an oppo 971 as it was the first upconverting player I owned. I also own a toshiba hda2 and between it and the oppo I would buy the a2 in a heartbeat. The upscaling capabilities of the a2 and the oppo are both excellent for the pricepoint. The tipping factor is the a2 also plays hd dvds. You can get it online for a little over two hundred with 5 free movies or go with the new a3 and get 7 free movies. As far as a blu ray player the only one I would and did buy was the playstation 3. For those that forget about the bluray bd live and bd video 1.1 spec there are currently NO stand alone players on the market that will be able to be upgraded for these features. The only one that has a chance is the ps3 as all its decoding capabilities are software driven. This may not be important to some as all the current players will still play blu ray movies, but will not be able to take advantage of certain features on the disc. That is the one complaint I have with bluray is the specs where not finalized from the get go. They rushed to market just to be able to compete with hd dvd. On the matter of whuch format to go with if I where to just be buying into a high definition format/player I would go with hd dvd. My reasoning for this is that first hd dvd players are cheaper to purchase and they all do a great job at upconverting standard definition dvds, next all hd dvd players currently on the market will allow access to all the advanced features such as persistent storage, online functionality, and multiple picture streams, and finally you get 5-7 free movies with a player purchase. My final thoughts if you have invested in a tv and surround system capable of taking advantage of what the new formats have to offer then you owe it to yourself to experience what high definition has to offer. A few hundred is not alot to spend to experience the best in picture and in sound. The best up converting dvd player pales in comparison to the picture and sound you get from high definition and anyone who states other wise has a. not seen a high def dvd or b. has not seen and heard it in a proper calibrated and set up system.

Save all the hassle and get a playstation 3. Not only for 500 do you get a great media center, but also the ability to play blurays,sacds,games, and unlimited storage via any usb harddrive you want to add on. For the price you will not come close to its performance as a digital music center.

greg, Thanks for the compliment it means alot coming from the MAN! I talked with the tech at oak wood veneer many times on the right veneer to use for the applications that I'm doing. Whenever I use contact cement I order the 22.2 mil bubble free veneer which has more layers of paper backing and is made specifically for use with contact cement. I don't know if you have ever used it but it is just like the 10mil just a little thicker because of the more substrate backing. But it works as advertised I have yet to get a single bubble using the 22.2 mil paperbacked veneer with contact cement. Don't get me wrong I still use the thinner 10mil depending on the job it is cheaper per square foot than the 22.2. And yes the inside of the dog house is a chore. The biggest task is getting enough pressure on the veneer to form the bond with the contact cement. Not to mention no two sides on the inside of the bass bin are the same size so each piece has to be individually perfectly cut then getting the cuts straight and right on is another chore. Let me finish by saying Gregs work was my inspiration for all my current veneering projects. His website with step by step pictures and information was a great help the first few times I veneered and even the last. As with anything in life the more times you do something the better you get at it. This pair of lascalas was so far my best work yet. I also have to thank Jeff(woodsman) another great craftsmen who gave me tips on getting the right finish. There are many here on the forums who are more than willing to help and it is greatly appreciated.

I checked out your thread good job on the refinish. This pair of lascalas came from a bar in OH where Trey bought them from then he replaced all the drivers and painted them with black latex paint. They where definitly in the worst shape of all the speakers I have refinished, but turned out as my best veneering and finishing job yet.

The main reason I used contact cement method on the bass bins is that there is no way to get an iron into the back parts of the bass bin to heat the veneer using the heat lock method. As far as positioning the veneer I use a few 1/4 dowel rods cut to the length of the bass bin wall then lay the veneer on them until it is in position. Then slowly remove each one press it down with my hand then go over it with a roller to firmly press it down into place. The lascala has to be repositioned depending on the side of the bass bin that is being worked on. As far as why I prefer the contact cement the main reason is less waiting time between application and when you can apply it to the substrate. It just takes more care when using it versus the heat lock method. Once the two substrates come into contact there is no repositioning the veneer. The bond is permanent. With the heat lock and iron method the bond is not formed until the heat is applied so there is more working time to set the piece into place.

Thanks for the compliments. As far as the molding I get it from baird brothers in Ohio. They are a mill and you can order it direct. I used curly cherry molding for my entertainment center that I ordered direct from them. If you do not see the wood you are looking for on their website you can give them a call and they can usually get it.

Both of them. As you can tell I forgot to wipe the dust out of the back of the black in the bass bin. I will have to do that.

bass bin

Close up of the side

Here is one of the tops

Alright here are the almost finished photos. I still need to get the jubilee emblems for the grills and I'm waiting on a pair of alk's from Al. I had photos of the process as I went along but my wife deleted them from the camera. The final finishing process was one coat of tung oil which I allowed to dry for 5 days followed by 9 coats of hand rubbed poly. Coats 1-5 where sanded with 220 grit between coats. Coats 5-8 I used 320 grit between coats. The final coat was applied last night and the cabinets where sanded with 400 grit. The final finish turned out my best yet. The finishing process took about a week and a half letting most coats dry overnight. Here are the photos!

another pic

All the white spots are the wood bondo. All the corners had to be redone.

Well about a month and a half ago I picked up a pair of 77 lascalas from Trey. They where prime canidates for a reveneering job as Trey informed me that before he had gotten them they had been hung up in a bar. I wasn't concerned about cosmetics only the drivers which he had replaced them all when he got the speakers. This is the first redo that I remembered to take some before photos. The speakers had a numerous dings, dents, chips, and holes in the cabinets. Just to give an idea it took 2 full cans of minwax high performance wood filler and about 30 peices of 100 grit sandpaper to get the cabinets ready for veneer. I spent around 20-25 hours just prepping the cabinets for the veneer. The next step was selecting the veneer for this project. I called up oak wood veneer in Michigan and I wanted 3 sequenced matched 8x4 22.2 mil paper backed sheets of premium AA grade cherry. The seqence matching ensures the grain and color of each sheet match. They also emailed me pictures of the sheets before hand for my approval. They are a great place to work with. In aplying the veneer itself I used Heat lock and iron on method on the outsides and contact cement on the inside of the bass bins. I still prefer contact cement to the heat lock method but thats just me. I will post more on the finish used and further steps once I get some more pics up today.

Just tell the wife you could be spending your money on worse things and that buying used holds its value or audio is like a drug and your an addict. What ever floats her boat!

I'm getting ready to head to work!

Glad to see you are enjoying the tube amp. I think my road trips are done for a little while unless a deal comes up I can't refuse. My quest for a lascala ht has come to a close. The pair I got from Trey is almost finished and so I will finally have surrounds again. The one I got this weekend I have not decided if I want to reveener it or just repaint it black and add some quarter round to the top and a grill. My wife likes how the all black center offsets the cherry lascalas and the cherry entertainment center so we will see. Kyle is a great guy and its is nice to finally meet someone in the local vicinity that also enjoys Klipsch speakers.

It would be nice as others have stated but is cost prohibited. First you would have to ship the speakers to hope where the factory is. Next figure the cost of veneer which ranges in price from $2.00 to $20.00 per square foot based on the type of veneer chosen to refinish with. There is 32 square foot per 8x4 sheet. Depending on the model of speaker you are looking at 1-3 sheets per pair, 1 being a pair of cornwalls and 3 being a pair of lascalas. Once the veneer is chosen then you would have to go through and prep the cabinets filling in any holes, squaring up the corners, and fixing dings and dents. Sounds easy enough, but is very time consuming. Then after the veneer is put on you would have the task of sanding and applying the topcoat. I have veneered both lascalas and cornwalls. A pair of cornwalls is fairly easy depending on the initial condition of the cabinets. Figure around 20-30 man hours total. A pair of lascalas takes double that amount of time because of the bass bin and complex cuts. The other option would be for klipsch to just fill dings, dents, scratches etc. go over with a topcoat or paint them black. You would still have shipping and labor charges and doing it this way you will not get them back to there original appearance. Last time I checked klipsch gets all there panels already preveneered and cuts and puts the panels together for the cabinets. The best bet for any forum klipsch owner is to take the time and learn how to do it themselves, excellent results are achievable through time, practice,and patience. There are plenty of forum members on here who have done it themselves that are more than willing to help with pointers and tips. Some will even do the veneering for owners for a nominal fee.

Enrique, Got the payment and we will see you next Saturday!. Justin

Thanks for the compliment. I put a lot of time, effort, and money to get just the right center, but since I sold my cherry cornwalls to woodsman and have lascalas for front and rears. I figured why not put another lascala up front. I could always build another vertical to go along with it but figured it would find a good home to someone here on the forums. The ropey cherry veneer is even better looking in person. It has a beautiful grain pattern with what looks like waves running through the grain horizontally.

price lowered from 400 to 350 to move quickly!